Last Child
06-19-2009, 04:36 AM
I absolutely love this. :haha:
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/barrelmonster.jpg
Barrel Monster's renown spreads
National radio, TV run accounts
BY SARAH OVASKA - Staff writer
Published: Fri, Jun. 19, 2009 02:00AMModified Fri, Jun. 19, 2009 05:10AM E-Mail
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Text Size: tool nameclose tool goes here RALEIGH -- The Barrel Monster, a playful statue made of orange and white construction barrels, only had a few hours of life on Hillsborough Street but is basking in popularity as news spreads of its suspected creator's arrest by Raleigh police.
In the week since Joseph Carnevale, a student at N.C. State University, was arrested June 10, both he and the Barrel Monster have attracted attention from around the country, and even the world.
The monster's image was broadcast on national television networks Thursday amid coverage of the mass street demonstrations in Iran to protest the disputed election there. An interview with Carnevale aired that afternoon on NPR's "All Things Considered," a national radio program.
Nearly 3,000 people have joined a page on Facebook, the social networking site, urging Wake prosecutors to drop the charges. The Barrel Monster, which was created under Carnevale's nom d'art, Uliveandyouburn, has hundreds of Internet admirers, some from as far away as Brazil and South Korea. The page includes a doctored photograph showing the monster standing in for Jack Ruby as the killer of President John F. Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in an iconic image.
On May 31, the Barrel Monster made its appearance on Hillsborough Street near the school's campus, its hand pointing out to passing motorists and pedestrians next to a construction zone. But the monster also caught the attention of a patrolling Raleigh police officer, who seized the statue and began a criminal investigation.
Carnevale is now facing misdemeanor charges of larceny and damage to property. He's scheduled to be in court July 21.
At Hamlett Associates, the company that owned the barrels, staff members have repeatedly said they never wanted to press charges. Instead, they'd like to have a Barrel Monster of their own to display either at their Guilford County office or at a job site.
Steven Hussey, the company's president, said he has turned down offers from Barrel Monster supporters who have called the company offering to repay him the less than $400 in barrels it took to create the statue. Send the money to charity instead, Hussey tells them.
"For a small amount of money, we got a ton of publicity," Hussey said.
In an e-mail message, Carnevale said he will repay Hamlett Associates for the three construction barrels he used.
"This is both because it is the right thing to do and also in the hope that the original can be regained and sold to fund other concepts," he wrote.
While Carnevale appears to be in the midst of his 15 minutes of fame, Raleigh police have expanded their investigation to look at other incidents, said Laura Hourigan, a Raleigh police spokeswoman. She declined to give details.
K.L. Everett, the officer who arrested Carnevale, seized ropes, binoculars, a traffic vest, cameras, a walkie-talkie, several laptops, a cell phone and an iPod from Carnevale's Schaub Drive apartment the day of the arrest, according to court records.
"The fact is that this is a larceny," Hourigan said. "If it were reported that it was taken from a home or vehicle, we would treat it the same way."
Ultimately, prosecutors at the Wake District Attorney's Office will decide whether the charges against Carnevale will stand. Steven Saad, an assistant Wake District attorney, said he is just starting to review the case and may soon go to the Raleigh Police Department's evidence room to see the deconstructed monster.
Hourigan, the police spokeswoman, did say the city had more than 5,000 larcenies reported last year. But none attracted as much attention as the Barrel Monster.
Others wonder why police went after Carnevale for a situation that was meant to entertain and not harm.
"Sometimes creativity trumps the law," said Lee Hansley, a local gallery owner.
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said he was impressed by the statue, as he was with a graffiti painting that Carnevale is being credited with putting on a tower near Boylan Street.
But the artist has also been linked to graffiti tagging around the city that has cost money to remove.
Said the mayor: "This guy certainly has talent."
sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4622
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1575119.html
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww232/Last-Child/barrelmonster.jpg
Barrel Monster's renown spreads
National radio, TV run accounts
BY SARAH OVASKA - Staff writer
Published: Fri, Jun. 19, 2009 02:00AMModified Fri, Jun. 19, 2009 05:10AM E-Mail
Text Size: tool nameclose tool goes here RALEIGH -- The Barrel Monster, a playful statue made of orange and white construction barrels, only had a few hours of life on Hillsborough Street but is basking in popularity as news spreads of its suspected creator's arrest by Raleigh police.
In the week since Joseph Carnevale, a student at N.C. State University, was arrested June 10, both he and the Barrel Monster have attracted attention from around the country, and even the world.
The monster's image was broadcast on national television networks Thursday amid coverage of the mass street demonstrations in Iran to protest the disputed election there. An interview with Carnevale aired that afternoon on NPR's "All Things Considered," a national radio program.
Nearly 3,000 people have joined a page on Facebook, the social networking site, urging Wake prosecutors to drop the charges. The Barrel Monster, which was created under Carnevale's nom d'art, Uliveandyouburn, has hundreds of Internet admirers, some from as far away as Brazil and South Korea. The page includes a doctored photograph showing the monster standing in for Jack Ruby as the killer of President John F. Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in an iconic image.
On May 31, the Barrel Monster made its appearance on Hillsborough Street near the school's campus, its hand pointing out to passing motorists and pedestrians next to a construction zone. But the monster also caught the attention of a patrolling Raleigh police officer, who seized the statue and began a criminal investigation.
Carnevale is now facing misdemeanor charges of larceny and damage to property. He's scheduled to be in court July 21.
At Hamlett Associates, the company that owned the barrels, staff members have repeatedly said they never wanted to press charges. Instead, they'd like to have a Barrel Monster of their own to display either at their Guilford County office or at a job site.
Steven Hussey, the company's president, said he has turned down offers from Barrel Monster supporters who have called the company offering to repay him the less than $400 in barrels it took to create the statue. Send the money to charity instead, Hussey tells them.
"For a small amount of money, we got a ton of publicity," Hussey said.
In an e-mail message, Carnevale said he will repay Hamlett Associates for the three construction barrels he used.
"This is both because it is the right thing to do and also in the hope that the original can be regained and sold to fund other concepts," he wrote.
While Carnevale appears to be in the midst of his 15 minutes of fame, Raleigh police have expanded their investigation to look at other incidents, said Laura Hourigan, a Raleigh police spokeswoman. She declined to give details.
K.L. Everett, the officer who arrested Carnevale, seized ropes, binoculars, a traffic vest, cameras, a walkie-talkie, several laptops, a cell phone and an iPod from Carnevale's Schaub Drive apartment the day of the arrest, according to court records.
"The fact is that this is a larceny," Hourigan said. "If it were reported that it was taken from a home or vehicle, we would treat it the same way."
Ultimately, prosecutors at the Wake District Attorney's Office will decide whether the charges against Carnevale will stand. Steven Saad, an assistant Wake District attorney, said he is just starting to review the case and may soon go to the Raleigh Police Department's evidence room to see the deconstructed monster.
Hourigan, the police spokeswoman, did say the city had more than 5,000 larcenies reported last year. But none attracted as much attention as the Barrel Monster.
Others wonder why police went after Carnevale for a situation that was meant to entertain and not harm.
"Sometimes creativity trumps the law," said Lee Hansley, a local gallery owner.
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said he was impressed by the statue, as he was with a graffiti painting that Carnevale is being credited with putting on a tower near Boylan Street.
But the artist has also been linked to graffiti tagging around the city that has cost money to remove.
Said the mayor: "This guy certainly has talent."
sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4622
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1575119.html